Club records, rethinks and revolving doors: inside Forest’s wild window

“So basically, Marinakis and Dane Murphy have this tactic where we literally sign every player from every other club so that on match days the other teams can’t field a starting XI and we win by default. It’s genius,” goes the meme. And it felt like that was the case at Nottingham Forest at times over the summer.

The hard work started last season when Forest made an unexpected surge for the Premier League. Two lists of targets were drawn up, one for the Championship and another for the top flight. By mid-June Steve Cooper and Murphy, the chief executive, were on the same page about who they did and did not want. Dean Henderson was an upgrade on Brice Samba, Neco Williams would be targeted over Djed Spence and Taiwo Awoniyi was the ideal No 9. Cooper was adamant that Morgan Gibbs-White was crucial to his plan and a drawn-out, two-month process to smash the club’s transfer record began.

Since that first meeting, 21 players have arrived after countless offers and inquiries. As Cooper is at pains to explain, this level of recruitment was required to make Forest competitive. The core of their team from last season consisted of loan players, who all departed along with their goalkeeper and club captain. It cannot be forgotten that before Cooper’s arrival, Forest were bottom of the league.

Overall, 22 have left, some from the fringes, something forgotten amid the headlines of signings. There was always a plan to sign young players with potential to improve and be sold for a profit. The Bundesliga was seen as a sensible hunting ground, with Forest looking to find value and German clubs eager to make money. Awoniyi broke Forest’s transfer record, Moussa Niakhaté, Omar Richards and Orel Mangala followed.

By the end of July 10